Far Side Of Recollection
by Sophisticated Psycho
Summary: Maybe back then, they were only called monsters. But now... oh now... they really are.
1. Prologue

"Hey."

A single word spoken so softly not even the natural echo had caught it. Hanging in the air by invisible threads. At least until they had managed to break through the defense of an idle mind. Sliding into one ear, curling around the brain stem before slipping along the crevices of the mind and then sinking in.

"Pay attention, please."

Eyes flickered up from that place; the one they had been staring at for the past… hour? Orbs that once held a bright gleam of energy, artificial. Once overwhelmed by the glowing substance that not an ounce of violet was to be found. Once bright blue, brighter than the sky on a clear Summer day. Now dulled down. Mako gone. That's what this place would do to you after so long. It cleansed you of everything foreign. But it made up for it in more ways than one.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

A pause. He didn't answer her, even when her hand rested on his shoulder. Warmth bleeding through the dark cloth and dancing over his skin like a small fire.

"You'll forget… you'll forget everything."

He wanted to cringe at the way her voice dropped like that. Going from sing-songy, light, loving. Dieing into a sad, breathy whisper. He could hear everything she had wanted to say in that single change of her tone. After all, they had spent years up here. Together. With the others.

"Maybe that's for the best."

"But they're not going to forget, Zack." she shook her head, obviously holding back on a sigh. "He's still going to remember you."

He went silent again.

"They want you back. They need you back."

"They want you too, you know." he responded, quiet, almost failing to form the words all together.

"I know." this time there was a smile in her voice.

"Do you want to go through with this…?" he asked carefully after a moment, shifting then, and placing a hand over hers on his shoulder. It was warm, soft. Delicate. Yet he knew all too well what power hands like hers held. Seen it first hand, he had. More than once.

"I do." Slowly, she removed her hand from under his, just so her fingers could slide through dark strands. "They want to see us. Can't you hear his heart?"

"I can."

"It hurts doesn't it?" Comforting. Always comforting. Warm hands in his hair, on his scalp. Rubbing. Soothing. Calming.

He felt his eyes drift shut, leaning back into her hands; then into her.

"I know you miss them. They miss you too."

"It's been too long."

"But they need you."

"I know." he sighed, pulling away from her and forcing himself into a standing position.

"So what now?"

"Things are ready on their end. Now it's time for me to lend a hand." she stayed kneeling, arms around her knees, a sweet smile on her lips. "I'll miss you Zack. Make sure we meet again, alright? Can you do that for me?"

He turned to face her, matching her smile, "Of course!"

She stood and placed her hands to his cheeks, her touch warmer than normal. Soon enough her hands were glowing just slightly, a pale white glow. Soon that glow enveloped him, swallowing his body and drowning him in such a sweet way. It was so soft. So warm.

Everything went white. Silent. Almost static. His mind went blank. Asleep.

A sharp stab in his arm was what brought him back. Eyes flickering open.

The cold, hard, metal surface of a medical table was the last thing he would of wanted to wake up on. The scent of cool, canned air hit his senses like a ton of bricks and he realized, there was an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

The dull gray walls of an infirmary room surrounded him.

He felt sick. And he didn't know why. But he got sick, all over the floor. And that alone grabbed the attention of the two nurses that had been in the room. One had curled a hand over her mouth, cringing at the smell; after all… he had vomited up stale mako mixed with body fluids. The other had moved to pull a phone off the hook near the door, talking in hushed tones that made his head swim.

Where the hell was he? It wasn't long before everything suddenly went dark again, just around the time some guy in a white coat had appeared.


	2. Chapter 1

Four years, and he still had the habit.

Four years since he sent Kadaj to the Life Stream. Four years, he still wore the black sleeve. Fingers curled into the blank fabric, clutching it as if it was hurting him. What did he have to hide his arm for now? The Geostigma was long gone. No more pain. No more black puss sliding along his blood stream under the skin. It was just… his arm, now.

Both eyes were drawn to the window, light reflecting off the light hue of his skin, eyes, and hair. His fingers tightened even further in the black fabric, at the sight. The leather of his gloves screaming in pain as it was stretched to its limits due to his iron grip. He could not do much other then watch. Watch as those creatures formed out of the ground almost one after another, attempting to pounce on innocent passerby only to be sliced in half in mid air.

The sidewalk glittered in the moonlight from the splattered blood and remains. By morning, the corpse of the creature would be gone. There was a clean up crew for that after all. The monsters… they never lasted long in the town anymore.

Not since…

He cringed at the thought, wincing at the burning prickle of tears behind his eyes that the thoughts had brought to life. Why did it have to happen now?

Sure, they were protecting the town now, not just going out destroying towns that refused to treaty with them.

However…

An annoyed sigh broke his train of thought, bringing his attention around into the back of him. Spinning to catch up with his eyes, he nearly recoiled out of remorse at the sight inside the building. That look Tifa was giving him, so reprimanding. Scolding him for moping around and staring out the window. Where, oh where, had the peace of mind he had gained after that fight gone?

--

"So… What… I was… asleep?"

"You could put it like that."

"But… how? I mean… how can you make someone sleep for nearly seven years?"

"Suspended animation. In mako."

He cringed at the thought, staring down at his forearms with a mild disgust. No wonder he had gotten so sick when he had woken up. Stuck in a tube of mako for years did not seem like it was very smart. Nor comfortable. He still felt like vomiting, but he had emptied ever ounce of fluid from his stomach not to long ago, and the janitor was currently seeing to that mess.

"Am I…" he trailed off, looking away, down to the floor almost dejectedly.

"Yes. You are still human, Zack. Just… it's only to take your body an awfully long time to adjust to such a high state of concentrated mako being absorbed into your blood stream over that period of time." Zack felt a bit uneasy at that. Something about the way the doctor had said it just did not seem right. Maybe… he was lying? Covering up the truth? Nah. It was against protocol for anyone such as the on site doctors to lie to someone in his status.

That little bit of thought brought back his familiar bright, smile. "So, when can I leave?"

"After you can hold food again. This will take a day or two. In the mean time, you have to stay in the special unit provided. Think of it as... isolation until your body accepts the mako."

Zack simply nodded, against diverting his eyes down to the floor. Why did everything feel off? He felt as though he was forgetting something… or someone? Nevertheless, everyone around him seemed perfectly familiar.

The doctor, he had never known the guy's name. He could remember him though, from before he had gotten into the SOLDIER ranks. It was the same person that had treated him when he was just another pistol-wielding grunt, and were wounded in a mission or from messing up in a training session. The man was old, well into his late forties, early fifties, if not more by now. Zack could remember him from when he was young; the man had been only about twenty-six or so. That had been when Zack himself was only about seventeen.

His shoulders lifted and dropped with an over dramatic sigh before he flung himself backwards onto the gurney that served as his bed. The action immediately made his stomach churn up what little bile it had left, causing him to gag dryly and lean over the side of the gurney. He groaned in an annoyed way, only relaxing when the nurse nearest him stepped over, letting instincts take over so she could reach over and rub his back in a rather motherly way.

The nurse was at least thirty, and it was obvious that she was a mother from the lines on her face, creases from stress and laughter from taking care of children. She had a familiar kind look in her eyes, one that worked enough to calm the spasms in his stomach so he could relax back against the pillows. Shortly afterwards, a glass of water was offered to him.

--

"Are you just going to stand there for the rest of your life?" Tifa cocked her head to the side, staring Cloud down with the same 'well, are you going to answer me or not?' look. Her frown only deepened when the blond just turned back to the window. She heaved her shoulder with a sigh, shaking her head and turning around to step back out of the room.

"Well, Marlene helped me make dinner, and it's ready if you want to eat." she tossed over her shoulder, trying to use that special tone of voice, the almost sad one, to try and coax the man away from his window gazing long enough to eat a meal.

She was a bit worried, since for the past few years she had not actually seen Cloud eat. She knew he had to at least some time, to have survived four years without being witnessed eating. Then again, Denzel had said he heard noises coming from the bar at weird hours of the night. Maybe that's when Cloud ate? He didn't look thin or anything, quite the contrary. He looked healthy as ever.

Cloud was silent for a long while, but Tifa did not budge from her spot. And she didn't plan to until she was answered with more than just a shrug or nod.

"You can't change the fact that SOLDIER is up and running again Cloud. At least they're not killing people. They may still be monsters but…. At least they're being good ones for now." she tacked on quietly, almost positive that the fact that Rufus Shinra had resurrected the old SOLDIER system was what was bothering Cloud so badly.

"I'll be down in a minute." Cloud answered softly after a moment, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and turning. "I have something to do first."

Tifa snapped around, eyes hard. "You're not leaving the bar, Cloud. Not unless you sit down and eat with us all for once."

Cloud visibly flinched at that, turning his eyes to the floor.

"I know."

However, he never did go and sit with them. Instead, sneaking out the back. Feeling as if he were being called. On the other hand, maybe he just needed to get out… get some fresh air.


End file.
